Education WeekU.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told an audience at the Brookings Institution Wednesday that she wouldn't necessarily approve every state's plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act right off the bat. And at the same event, she continued to push her favorite policy: school choice. DeVos didn't say specifically that states would have to embrace choice in their plans in order to pass muster with the department.READ MORE

By Mark S. Miller (commentary) Today's educational environment is vastly different from those of your parents and grandparents. Educational settings have transformed from brick and mortar to blended learning opportunities to cyber classrooms. The 21st-century student has challenged teachers to re-examine their teaching styles and methods of delivery. The challenge of meeting the needs of the 21st-century student and accountability standards has pressured teachers to create new techniques.READ MORE

The Associated PressEducation Secretary Betsy DeVos ccused her predecessor of wasting billions of dollars trying to fix traditional public schools and said that school choice was the way to reform the system. Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DeVos said that Arne Duncan's signature $7 billion project targeting failing schools did not produce any significant improvement. That failure, she said, was further proof that it is vital to give American parents the options of charter, private and other schools.READ MORE

LDAThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to allow the dangerous pesticide chlorpyrifos to continue to be used on farm fields and crops puts children and future generations at greater risk of learning and developmental disabilities, attention and behavior disorders, according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America.READ MORE

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By: Cait Harrison (commentary) A new presidential era means more changes are in store for education. President Donald Trump recently signed bills rolling back two regulations measuring school accountability and teacher training under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The school accountability measure overwhelmingly passed in the Republican-controlled House, but narrowly made it out of the Senate with a 50-49 vote — despite opposition from business, labor and civil rights groups, as well as Democrats.READ MORE

EdutopiaAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 11 percent of children — that's 6.4 million kids — in the United States ages 4–17 were reported by parents to have a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as of 2011. Dr. Russell Barkley, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and an expert on ADHD, says that this disorder is primarily about emotional regulation and self-control and is not just about inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Emotional regulation, which is foundational to social, emotional, and academic success, is underdeveloped in these young people. Barkley emphasizes that ADHD arises from neurogenetic roots and is not a knowledge or intelligence disorder.READ MORE

Education WeekAdvocates for children with disabilities are cheering a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as a clear win that establishes more-ambitious academic standards for special education students. Representatives for some educational groups and districts, on the other hand, have a more measured response. They say that the March 22 decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District sets forth a standard for the level of benefit required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that most school districts were exceeding already.READ MORE

Education World (commentary)Misconceptions, myths, and stereotypes run abound in gifted education. Research with teachers, experienced and new to the field, suggests widely held views on what constitutes "giftedness" and appropriate methods for educating this group. To preface this discussion, understand that numerous definitions for "gifted" exist (this adds to the complexity of this topic). School districts generally depend on intelligent quotient tests along with other measures, such as behavior-characteristic checklists, to identify gifted students.READ MORE

The ConversationIssues around children learning to read are rarely out of the news. Which is hardly surprising — becoming a successful reader is of paramount importance in improving a child's life chances. Nor is it surprising that reading creates a virtuous circle: the more you read the better you become. But what may come as a surprise is that reading to dogs is gaining popularity as a way of addressing concerns about children's reading. There is a lot of research evidence indicating that children who read extensively have greater academic success. The U.K. Department for Education's Reading for Pleasure report, published in 2012, highlights this widely established link. READ MORE

School Library JournalIn an increasingly social media–driven world, school library media specialist Cindy Symonds sees herself as the personal tech guide to the teachers and 560 students at Round Top Elementary School in Blythewood, South Carolina. One media tool she's recently introduced is interactive comic strips. Her students have been creating stories using the comic generator MakeBeliefsComix.com. With perpetually limited funds, librarians and teachers are turning to the growing number of free make-your-own-comic websites and apps. These allow students to create their own characters, settings, dialogue and stories. In particular, they seem to be stimulating literacy, communication and linguistic skills among students with special needs. Often, they improve such students' attention span and increase their class participation.READ MORE

PsychCentralWe know a large number of students are not reaching their full potential in our educational system. They are not being taught the proper learning techniques for improving educational outcomes. Research shows that students are relying heavily on techniques that received a low utility assessment, as compared to effective techniques such as distributed practice, that rank high. Knowing there is a need for improving the educational system's process, learning scientists set forth to study and identify specific learning techniques that can aid teachers and students in reaching their goals. Among these techniques, Distributed Practice was considered a successful tool in helping students succeed.READ MORE

Education WeekOn April 3, states will begin officially submitting their plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act to the U.S. Department of Education. And then comes the, umm ... fun part. Those plans will be examined through a wonky-but-important process known as "peer review," in which a team of educators and experts essentially takes a close look at a state's vision, to see if it complies with the law. On April 4, the Education Department — now controlled by Team Trump — released guidance spelling out exactly what those reviewers should be looking for. READ MORE

Education DIVEThe vast majority of parents believe their children are performing at or above grade level in both reading and math. According to nationally representative data from nonprofit parent advocacy organization Learning Heroes, across race, class, income and education levels, 90 percent of parents think their children are proficient in these two subjects. Educators know the reality is very different. National data indicates about 33 percent of students are proficient in math and 34 percent are proficient in reading.READ MORE

ADDItude MagazineResearch shows that physical activity — even a little foot-tapping or gum chewing — increases levels of the neurotransmitters in the brain that control focus and attention. Learn how a subtle fidget may help block out distractions, fight boredom and increase productivity.READ MORE

Education WorldEducators for High Standards commissioned a survey that asked 800 teachers and teacher advocacy leaders about their perceptions of ESSA's potential impact on their schools and profession as well as their role in its implementation. The results show that teachers are generally skeptical about whether the federal law will lead to significant education reforms.READ MORE

Maine Public Broadcasting NetworkIn classrooms, there has long been an assumption that students need to be still, calm and attentive to learn. But more and more, researchers are finding that attitude could actually be harming many students. Teachers and students in Maine are trying to change that attitude by transforming what their classrooms look like.READ MORE

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Edutopia (commentary)Chris Ward's fifth graders have been practicing long division for most of the period. While some understand it well, others are still struggling. Tomorrow, Chris wants to offer appropriate choices to enable students to practice what they need, so today she'll use a quick check-in — a simple formative assessment — to determine those choices.READ MORE

District Administration MagazineMany district administrators seem to agree that teenagers need more sleep. A new study released in February indicates that attendance and graduation rates may match the science, too. Published in Sleep Health, the journal of the National Sleep Foundation, the study includes data for 30,000 students in 29 high schools from eight districts across seven states. Two years after a delayed start was implemented at these high schools, average attendance rates increased from 90 percent to 94 percent, and graduation rates increased from 79 percent to 88 percent.READ MORE

University of Cambridge via Science Daily"Big data" study finds that children from families with limited education have strongest long-term response to teacher encouragement, and are more likely to progress to university as a result. READ MORE

By: Brian Stack (commentary) For more than a decade, states have published grades and ranks of their schools as part of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, a federal mandate first signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. Since that time, many states have developed a system that uses common measures such as standardized test scores and graduation rates to generate letter-grade report cards for schools, similar to the ones that students are issued.READ MORE